Replication Archive

This repo houses the replication data & code for "The International Dimension of Post-Conflict Police Reform" published as chapter 7 in "Institutional Reforms and Peacebuilding Change, Path-Dependency and Societal Divisions in Post-War Communities" edited by Nadine Ansorg and Sabine Kurtenbach.

Authors

Nadine Ansorg, Julia Strasheim, and Felix Haass

Abstract

Do international peacebuilders influence the successful implementation of police reform in the aftermath of violent conflict? From Afghanistan to El Salvador and Democratic Republic of Congo, international donors steer enormous resources to post-conflict countries in order to alter structure and conduct of the police. These police reform programs often come with norm-oriented goals such as transforming the force into a politically accountable institution that serves the needs of local communities and reflects the overall composition of the society. We argue that two characteristics of external peacebuilders are associated with the implementation of police reform after war: the volume of resources they bring and the extensiveness of their mandate. We hypothesize that higher shares of security sector reform (SSR)-earmarked development aid should make police reform implementation more likely as SSR aid brings the necessary financial resources, expertise, and equipment into a conflict-ridden country. At the same time, peace operations with stronger mandates are better able to curb the security dilemma between former belligerents and open up the political space to allow conflict parties to implement police reform. We test these hypotheses in cases of the implementation of two types of police reform: first, implementation of provisions on political control of the police force through strengthening accountability structures, and second, implementation of provisions that regulate the composition of police forces such as the mode of representation of identity groups, women, as well as former warring parties. Using new data on police reform implementation, results from logistic regression show that international SSR financing is indeed correlated with a higher likelihood of implementing political control reforms, while it does not have an effect on the implementation of reform on the composition of police force. Additionally, peace operations are positively associated with a higher likelihood of implementation of political control aspects of police reform.

Notes

The file analysis_and_plots.R contains all the code necessary to replicate tables and figures in the chapter. If you have questions, open an issue or email at haass (at) giga-hamburg (dot) de.